There is a technology in which a terminal that a user is using does not reproduce Web contents or the like but a peripherally-located device reproduces the Web contents. For example, a user selects a device suitable for reproduction from among devices located around the user in accordance with a type or a format of contents such as images or voices, and transfers contents to the selected device to reproduce the contents.
Furthermore, there is a technology that enables a keyboard or a mouse of a personal computer (PC) that a user is using to perform an operation such as text input into an application on a peripherally-located device such as a mobile terminal. In this case, for example, it is preferable to perform an operation for associating the PC with the mobile terminal connected to Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity: registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like. For that reason, prior to a linkage, the user selects a target device from among a connection device list or inputs an IP (Internet Protocol) address of a mobile terminal into the PC to associate the PC with the mobile terminal.
[Patent Literature 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2015-049770
However, in the conventional technology, because one application is linkable from among applications that are being executed on a terminal that a user is using, there is a problem that the selection of a situational optimum device is difficult when the number of peripheral devices that are able to execute the one application is two or more.
For example, in Patent Literature 1, when a peripherally-located device reproduces contents, only one linkage destination is presented to a user even when the number of usable devices is two or more. However, the determination of which device of the plurality of devices is most suitable for reproduction depends on the situation. For example, when viewing moving images, there may be a situation in which contents are displayed on a large-screen display to appreciate the contents slowly and carefully, or a situation in which contents are displayed on a mobile terminal to view the contents lightly. Therefore, as in Patent Literature 1, because a user is not able to use a suitable device even if the suitable device exists depending on the current situation if the number of linkage destinations to be presented to the user is one, a situational optimum device is not selected.
On the other hand, even in the conventional technology in which a mobile terminal connected to Wi-Fi (registered trademark) is associated with PC, for example, there is a technique for presenting a list of connectable devices to a user. In this case, the user however performs an operation for selecting a device from the list prior to the association. However, because the association is not performed at the point of selection, actual operations of devices are not confirmed and compared. Therefore, the more the number of devices to be selected especially increases, the more difficult the selection of a situational optimum device is.